Bullis School announces new leader

Maryland native to take reigns in July; current head of school to lead Sidwell Friends

Gerald Boarman will take the reigns as the head of the Bullis School in Potomac in July. Tom Farquhar is leaving the school to head up Sidwell Friends.

After a search that lasted more than a year and drew scores of candidates, the Bullis School in Potomac has announced its new Head of School.

Maryland native Dr. Gerald Boarman, 62, chancellor of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a residential school for high school juniors and seniors in Durham, will take the reigns at Bullis in July. At Bullis, Boarman faces an increasing enrollment and will likely be involved with talks about expanding the school's facilities to meet growing demand.

Head of School Tom Farquhar, 58, announced in December 2008 that he accepted the top spot at Sidwell Friends School, a Quaker school with campuses in Northwest Washington, D.C., and Bethesda.

Bullis, located on 80-acres just of Falls Road, educates about 630 students in grades three through 12. Tuition there ranges from $26,460 for the lower school to $29,430 for the upper school, according to communications director Susie Zimmermann. Salary information for staff is confidential, Zimmermann wrote in an e-mail to The Gazette.

The move to Maryland is a return home for Boarman. As a child, he attended public schools in Hyattsville and graduated from Northwestern High School. He was principal of Oxon Hill Middle School in Fort Washington and of Eleanor Roosevelt High school in Greenbelt, and chief educational administrator for the Roosevelt Community of Schools in Prince George's County.

"When he talked about the kids at any of his schools where he had been, his face lit up," said Paula Widerlite, president of the Bullis Parents Association and a member of the school's search committee.

"I think it's a tribute to Bullis and the state of Bullis' development that we've attracted a person of that kind of educational pedigree," Farquhar said. He said Boarman has been "recognized as a dynamic, energetic, creative educator who has a flair for building relationships and building a kind of dynamic energy in the life of the school community."

With a recovering economy, applications on the rise and an enrollment cap of 900, Bullis may soon be discussing how to accommodate more students, Farquhar said. Boarman will likely play an essential role in those discussions, especially when it comes to updating facilities for math, science and technology education.

The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics draws top-performing students in math and science from across the state, and its educational program has been looked to as an educational model.

Boarman said he was attracted to Bullis' educational program and commitment to funding scholarships to draw in a diverse student population.

He is not coming to Bullis with a to-do list, he said. Boarman will launch "listening tours" with parents, staff and students.

"I need to know was Bullis' foundation is about and understand it from the inside out, and I think the best place to understand it from are the people who are there," he said.

Boarman says that his philosophy when it comes to leading a school is fairly simple  if it's in the best interest of the students, he said, it's worth considering.

As chancellor of North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Boarman was not a stranger to controversy, according to George Ross, a former head of the school's parent council. Several years ago, plans to build a new athletic field drew criticism from neighbors who worried about lighting. Ross said Boarman was able to cater to the needs of neighbors, students and staff.

"It was pretty controversial there at first, and through the course of six or eight months, everyone came to understand each other and it was very amiably resolved," Ross said.

In Potomac, Farquhar is preparing to move out of the on-campus home reserved for the head of school. The move is bittersweet, he said.

Whether its greeting the third-grade class for the last time or enjoying a final holiday concert, "In each of these moments, at some point, my wife and I will turn to one another and say Gosh, this is our last one at Bullis,'" Farquhar said.